The prophet Habakkuk is upset with “the Lord” for his governance of the ancient nation of Israel. Habakkuk laments, “I cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not intervene…there is strife, and clamorous discord.” Since the “Lord” was invented by the nation’s ‘Lords,’ Habakkuk’s lament is really for the nation’s Lords and their violent governance. His cry then is our cry now. Violence teems and still our nation’s ‘Lord’s’ will not intervene – understandable since they are the violators. It is their criminal governance of the nation that produces the violence. Thus, “there is strife, and clamorous discord.”
The U.S. is a culture based on the rights of criminal violators. It worships the Bible’s criminal violators as “Lords” of heaven and earth. Still praised in history books are those who criminally violated native people living on the land and those who criminally violated enslaved people brought to the land. Criminally violated as well was and is anyone else who could be violated. This includes children, specifically in industrial revolution labor settings. Some of these violated children, boys specifically, started emulating their nation’s violators. Male youth, both individually but more harmfully operating as gangs, began to govern as thieves and killers in their part of the world as they saw the nation’s rulers and their soldiers operating in gangs do so across the entire world. Each set of gangs always wants weapons for their criminal governance. Thus, the weapons used by the gangs operating as national violent governance would always be sought by the gangs operating as local violent governance. Handguns and assault rifles currently proliferate. Proliferating at a larger level is a global weapons and ammunition trade. It is operated by a global criminal ruling gang and made use of by the criminal national and local gangs, as well as various lone white supremacists (not lone at all really but members of their own gang). It is a multi-trillion-dollar industry. Its plunderers include Smith-Wesson, Remington, Sturm Ruger, and Savage Arms as well as the retailers who sell them like Bass Pro, the government officials who do not govern them, and the banks that offer them lines of credit like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. This entire criminal industry fuels gang warfare across the world; between soldiers of any countries, police and citizens in any city, and young men in any neighborhood. Operators of the plundering gang system deter us from the revolution we most need. It is a peaceful revolution that frees us from the “Violence!” of their criminal governance and ends its “strife, and clamorous discord.” But our freedom would limit their plunder. So, they enslave through fear. Thus, fearful 2nd Amendment proponents repeat the ruler’s criminal propaganda, saying, for example, “If guns are criminalized only criminals will have guns” – and they are right. Criminals will always have guns – the criminal ruling class who are the producing, retailing, governing, and banking industry of gun manufacturing. 2nd Amendment proponents simply want to be equally criminal and own those same guns. Thus, 2nd Amendment proponents can be likened to members of street gangs. They are just another gang of criminals seeking the ruling gang’s same weapons, the AK-47’s and AR-15’s. If the governing gang of criminals can use these weapons to kill men, women, and children across the world, why should not the 2nd Amendment gangs be able to use these same weapons to kill men, women, and children in this part of the world? So they do. Thus, “Violence!,” “strife, and clamorous discord” abound.
Peacemakers minister to gang emulating boys. The ministers obviously do not join the gangs nor do they merely reform the boys. Instead, peacemakers uproot the boys from their former lives. They do so by strengthening conscience, nurturing character, and bolstering new skills. The transformation is for each of the young men personally and for their gang socially. Their efforts free youth from criminality and for contribution. Ministers include David Washington of the Evangelical Church in Chicago and Amy L. Williams through her ministry, The Hope Dealer. But what about the peacemaker Jesus’ social ministry taking on the criminally of the governing national gangs? Who has been doing the equally necessary peacemaking ministry of taking on the national gangs of politicians and soldiers? As with local gangs, it is obvious that peacemakers are not called to join these gangs nor merely reform them. Again, we are called to uproot these gang members from their violence by strengthening conscience, nurturing character, and bolstering new skills; personally and socially. We uproot the governing national gangs and we uproot their emulating gangs of 2nd Amendment proponents. ‘If we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we would say to this empire, ‘Be uprooted.’ and it would obey us.”
Prayer: Spirit, free us from gangs and free us for faith in their transformation.
Question: Recognizing that boys need not always be boys and relate from the gang mentality, what are we doing to transform how we raise boys and are treated by men, especially gangs of them?
October 06, 2019 Gospel Luke 17:5-10 Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time